Results: Net income for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated rose to $177.7 million ($1.11 per share) vs. $163.1 million ($1.02 per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 8.9% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 0.2% to $1.91 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated reported adjusted net income of $1.17 per share. By that measure, the company was about in line with expectations as the mean analyst estimate was $1.18 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.94 billion.

Quoting Management: “Quest Diagnostics delivered earnings growth and margin expansion in the quarter, despite revenues that were essentially unchanged from a year ago,” said Steve Rusckowski, President and CEO. “We are accelerating our efforts to drive productivity improvements, reduce costs and restore revenue growth. And we remain focused on increasing shareholder returns through a combination of improved operating performance and disciplined capital deployment.”

Key Stats:

Revenue has risen for the last four quarters. Revenue increased 6.3% to $1.94 billion in the first quarter. The figure rose 3% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year earlier and climbed 2.2% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter.

After beating analyst estimates for the two previous quarters, the company fell short of forecasts. In the first quarter, it topped the mark by 7 cents, and in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, it was ahead by 17 cents.

Looking Forward: The average estimate for the third quarter is steady at $1.20 a share. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the fiscal year has climbed from $4.57 per to share to $4.60.